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William Shakespeare's Henry IV,Part I and Henry IV,Part II are believed to have been written no later than 1597, and depict a span of history from 1402 to the crowning of Henry V in 1413.

Wracked by guilt and illness, King Henry IV fears for England’s future. The heir to the throne, Prince Hal, seems intent only on a life of debauchery. As war looms and the stakes increase, father and son struggle to face their destinies – and each other.

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William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I and Henry IV, Part II are believed to have been written no later than 1597, and depict a span of history from 1402 to the crowning of Henry V in 1413.

Wracked by guilt and illness, King Henry IV fears for England’s future. The heir to the throne, Prince Hal, seems intent only on a life of debauchery. As war looms and the stakes increase, father and son struggle to face their destinies – and each other.

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It is possible to accurately date the composition of Henry V to 1599, due to its allusion to the Earl of Essex. William Shakespeare takes Holinshed’s Chronicles as his source text, but the play diverges in its prominent use of the chorus figure.

King Henry V is encouraged to go to war with France, leading to the famous battle of Agincourt. Henry struggles under the strain of leadership but is ultimately victorious conquering France, as well as the French Princess.

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William Shakespeare’s epic depiction of the Wars of the Roses are likely to have been collaborative works, with George Peel, Robert Greene and Thomas Nashe all proposed as possible co-writers.

The pious and serious young King Henry VI ascends to a severely depleted throne in the wake of his father's death. Determined to unite his fractured realm, Henry throws himself into the Hundred Years War, capturing the mysterious Joan of Arc and uniting England and France in marriage.

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William Shakespeare’s epic depiction of the Wars of the Roses are likely to have been collaborative works, with George Peel, Robert Greene and Thomas Nashe all proposed as possible co-writers.

The pious and serious young King Henry VI ascends to a severely depleted throne in the wake of his father's death. Determined to unite his fractured realm, Henry throws himself into the Hundred Years War, capturing the mysterious Joan of Arc and uniting England and France in marriage.

Related materials

William Shakespeare’s epic depiction of the Wars of the Roses are likely to have been collaborative works, with George Peel, Robert Greene and Thomas Nashe all proposed as possible co-writers.

The pious and serious young King Henry VI ascends to a severely depleted throne in the wake of his father's death. Determined to unite his fractured realm, Henry throws himself into the Hundred Years War, capturing the mysterious Joan of Arc and uniting England and France in marriage.

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Likely to have been a collaboration with John Fletcher, William Shakespeare’s Henry VIII, or All is True, could not have been written during Elizabeth’s reign – the events depicted were still so recent – but capitalises on Jacobean nostalgia for the Elizabethan era.

In Shakespeare’s account of the infamous king’s tempestuous romantic and political relationship, we see the rise of some – Wolsey, Anne, Cranmer – at the expense of others – Buckingham, Katherine, and Wolsey again.

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William Shakespeare’s King John depicts a period from 1199, in which the monarch holds a tenuous grip on his rule. It draws on Holinshed’s Chronicles but with a notable addition in the form of Falconbridge the bastard.

Richard the Lionheart is dead and his younger brother, John, has succeeded him as King of England. Unrest stirs on both sides of the channel as Bastards and Bretons challenge the succession, marshalling the opportunity to seize power for themselves.

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William Shakespeare’s Richard II draws on Holinshed’s Chronicles, as well as Samuel Daniel’s verse history of the Wars of the Roses, with the notable addition of the garden scene.

Bullingbrook is banished by King Richard II – only to return with an army at his heels – in this twisting and tortuous take on how vanity, naivety and entitlement led to the betrayal and downfall of a misguided monarch.

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William Shakespeare’s history plays were written out of sequence, and Richard III was written before Richard II, its first printing describing it as a ‘tragedy’. Unusually, the play opens with a soliloquy from its protagonist.

The Wars of the Roses are raging and the Machiavellian Richard of York, Duke of Gloucester, is plotting to seize the throne from his brother, the undisputed King Edward IV.